Artificial Insemination
Cloning
DNA
Engineering
Gene Therapy
Inheritance
Micropropagation
Protein Synthesis
Reproduction
Variation and Meiosis

Other Sections

Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Ecology
Genetics
Human Biology
Microbiology
Plant Biology

Cloning

Introduction

You may have heard of Dolly the Sheep. She was the first animal to be cloned using a cell taken from a mature mother in Midlothian, UK.

Note that animals had been cloned before Dolly but she was made famous because of the use of a cell from a mature ewe, and so was a clone of an animal that was living.

Technique

the technique of cloning

Ethical Concerns

Many people have reservations about genetic technology especially when it is used to create new life. The main concern with this technique is that it produces an embryo, and many would say this is like people playing God and creating life. It is especially concerning to think that this technique could be applied to humans, however doing this is strictly forbidden.

It is worth noting however, that this technique is very difficult. Indeed in the case of Dolly the Sheep, 277 cell fusions where made, and only one of them resulted in a live sheep being born.